


Down Came the Rain

by lmc_angstexpert



Series: Peter Parker Whumpy One-Shots [1]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Peter Parker, BAMF Tony Stark, F/M, Hurt Peter Parker, Hurt Tony Stark, Kid Peter Parker, Not Happy, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Peter Parker Dies, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker is a Mess, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Clint Barton, Protective Steve, Protective Tony Stark, Sad Ending, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-06-27 21:02:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19797706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lmc_angstexpert/pseuds/lmc_angstexpert
Summary: Peter had lost enough people in his life to know he never wanted to lose another. Too many people have come and gone to the point where he couldn’t take it anymore. Tony was not allowed to sacrifice himself, Peter would make sure of it.He’d made that mistake before, countless times before. He wasn’t going to let go of the only thing close to a father. He couldn’t.Too many mistakes later, he figured it out. Luckily, the boy leaned fast enough to make sure it never happened again.





	Down Came the Rain

**Author's Note:**

> I took a little break from Just A Kid to work on this one-shot. I did it just for fun and I wrote this in literally two days so it isn’t that good but I still hope you guys enjoy it!
> 
> Warnings:  
> -Major Character Death

Peter’s laying in a crater, and luckily, this time he isn’t being crushed by tons of concrete and dirt, alone in a warehouse. His nose is bleeding, a steady trail of blood oozing from his- definitely- broken nose and it’s getting hard to breathe. It doesn’t help that he’s surrounded by dust and dirt from the explosions. Peter hadn’t even expected them, but one moment he was flying through the air with the gauntlet in hand, the next, the land around him was being blown to smithereens. 

He lay now, curled in a feeble ball around the glove, clutching it so tightly, his own hands felt numb and pale. The poor boy was shivering out of fear. He was sure he was going to die out on the battle field.

Peter figured that was the most honorable way to go, but it _did_ suck that he was dying. 

So much for coming back from the dead, Peter thought bitterly.

He racked his brain for what he was supposed to be doing with the gauntlet. It was something important, he was sure! But for the life of him, he could not remember.

”Come on, Peter. C-Come on, Spi-Spider-Man! Get u-up!” The teen willed himself to get into a sitting position, but even that took so much energy out of him, he had to stay still and catch his breath. His voice was so high, pitched with fear. He looked out at the battle, his friends and even some strangers he didn’t even know fighting against all those aliens. It was terrifying. “Okay, okay. Calm down, Peter. J-Just breathe, like Mi-Mister Stark taught you to.”

Taking a deep breath, Peter tried once more to stand up, his face scrunching in pure pain as tears gathered in his bloodshot eyes. 

His eyes gazed the scene before him, unable to think straight with the incredibly loud noises ringing in his ears. 

“Focus, focus.”

Still, he couldn’t. His vision danced, teetering between cloudy and dark as he shook his head. The pain was immediate. The back of his head was soaked with blood, the pain there so unbelievable, he thought he was dying.

Little did he know, he was.

Peter could feel the blood gushing down his back from the large wound, fragments of his skull missing from the gash. The boy’s lips curled up as pure disgust rushed through him. Peter glanced towards Doctor Strange, a single look that held so much terror and despair- too much for a fifteen year old child. He felt weak for crying. So, so weak and pathetic. Useless.

His legs wobbled like a new born fawn walking for the first time, and the first thing he thought since he’d gotten back after five whole years of being dead, was that he would never get to see his family ever again. 

If that wasn’t the worst feeling in the world, Peter didn’t know what was.

He made eye contact with Strange. The doctor’s eyes held fear too, but it’s clouded by confidence and knowledge. When the older man’s eyes catch Peter’s, it seem d as though realization crossed him and he looked like he was about to cry. Peter, as innocent and clueless as he was, had no clue why.

Peter knows that adults can be scared too, he’s seen Tony petrified many times before. The most prominent memory being his last; him dying, Tony staring down at him. That was scary. Stephen looks sad- a sad type of scared. Peter holds the gauntlet close to his chest, wide, doe-like eyes gleaming at the doctor, pleading for the older man to save him. Then, the boy hears him. It’s quiet, but with his enchanted hearing, he can hear that bastard whisper those wretched words.

_“It’s the only way.”_

The boy looks at the glove and then back at Strange.

Finally, Peter figures it out, much quicker than he expected himself to. He had always been a smart kid, smarter than most people in his school (and his school was full of geniuses!), but Tony always said that he was too smart for his own good. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Peter had heard the saying ‘ignorance is bliss’ more than enough times to know what it meant, and still, as smart as he was, he was as innocent as a baby bunny. Sure he knew how not-so-innocent things like reproduction worked, but he had never so much of thought about sex out of educational terms.

So much for being a normal teenager boy going through puberty.

Peter hadn’t believed in all that ‘ignorance is bliss’ bullshit, but now? Now, he had never thought anything was so clear than that exact quote. He understood, and maybe that’s where he went wrong.

And still, the thought that doing what he was about to do was for the better of the people still crossed his mind. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, after all. Tony wanted the gauntlet- he knew that. Mister Stark was going to snap his fingers, fix everything, only for him to die in the end. The only father-figure Peter had left would be gone in an instance... just like Ben. Just like his parents. The sudden emptiness that followed was something Peter couldn’t forget. He felt it after Ben, and if Tony died, he’d feel it again. He couldn’t feel it again. Peter didn’t think he’d be able to live if he ever felt that amount of sadness and numbness ever again.

The solution was simple. Don’t let Tony die.

Strange was still staring at him again, somehow fighting off the hordes of aliens with his magic hands or whatever he called it.

Peter nodded to the man, he smiled sadly at the boy, knowing that the teen finally understood what he was to do. It truly was the only way.

The hand that wasn’t holding the gauntlet rose to his ear, hesitantly, stuttering as if he wasn’t sure of what he wanted to do once his hand arrived at its destination. He turned on his comms, finger slow, methodical as he pushed down on the devise that rest in his ear.

Once connected to Tony’s suit, Peter prayed.

He had never done that before.

He took a shuttering breath, only now noticing the force field surrounding his body that kept the creatures away. His eyes raced towards Wanda, who must’ve seen Strange’s gaze and figured out what was going to happen. She was protecting him. Peter didn’t know Wanda well, but the look she gave him made it seem like they had known each other for years. Peter smiled at her, but she refused to send one back. She looked just about a second away from collapsing and Peter vaguely thought that he should hurry up.

Nonetheless, he had to say goodbye. 

He heard static in the comm, but in the back, he could also hear grunts and screeches from the aliens. Then, Tony's voice.

"Peter! Hurry up and hand it to me, kid! We don't have much time and- ugh- I hate to say it but-humph- we appear to be losing." The billionaire grunted through his sentence, yet Peter cherished every word that left his mouth. It would be his last time ever hearing it anyways. He needed to savor it. He heard panting, briefly in his ear, and just in the distance, Peter could see Tony's form, taking down aliens left and right. The man glanced at Strange, who was still entranced with the dying boy mere meters away from him. Tony's eyes traveled to Peter, who was clutching the gauntlet with all his might. Stephen turned to the other man, finally, and muttered those same stupid words.

"It's the only way, Tony. Don't intervene."

"Intervene? What the _fuck_ are you talking about? I need that thing if we have any chance of-"

Stephen let out a cry- an actual cry- that caught Tony way off guard. "If you go anywhere near the gauntlet, it'll all be ruined. So, just- just stay over here."

Tony looked about ready to blow his top. He couldn't just stand there while some fifteen year old held on to the most powerful weapon in the entire universe. Tony vowed to keep Peter safe, and allowing him to even hold the thing was definitely _not_ safe. May would have his ass for this. In fact, it was the most irresponsible thing he's done in the five years Peter was gone. He'd already lost Peter once and he wasn't planning on doing it again.

"No! I'm getting my kid!"

"No, Tony! You need to stay here and just-..." Strange looked at Peter one last time, fear evident in his eyes. Peter looked terrified. He looked small, surrounded by all the destruction and violence. The boy looked lost, unable to move, let alone think. "Peter, do you know what to do?!"

Stephen's scream, as far away from the boy as he was, was like a screaming banshee in Peter's over sensitive ears. Peter nodded despite the immense pain he felt when doing so. The pain was all worth it if he could just, y'know, save the whole universe. The kid never thought the safety of the entire universe would be in his hands, but here he was, a teen who was way in over his head. Why did fate have to be this way? And while he didn't think it was fair to have a teenager make the final snap, Peter knew that there was no other way. He'd be useful now, not just a sack of flesh walking aimlessly through life. He had a job to do, and this time, he'd do it right.

Even if it meant he would die in the process.

Tony's face-plate closed as he rose off the ground, repulsors whirring to life as he attempted to fly towards Peter. However, Stephen was too quick, keeping Tony from going any further with magic Peter didn't understand. 

_It's time,_ Pete thinks to himself, more tears falling from his eyes. He didn't want to die, he really didn't. Peter wanted to make it through high school, experience love and have a real, complete family. He wanted to save people as Spider-Man and help people as Peter Parker. He didn't want to leave his aunt alone for good. He wanted to see Ned's face again and feel the warmth against his skin when he hugged the boy. He wanted to build robots with Tony in his lab and watch movies with the man every Friday night like he used to. He wanted to say goodbye to Tony only walk up to him the next day to say hello. He wanted to feel Aunt May's lips against his skin and hear her soft singing in the morning. He wanted to watch Mj sketch random, upset people and read books she hated just so she could make fun of them. He wanted to smile every morning. 

He wanted to live.

But he knew he couldn't.

Comms on, Peter spoke freely, knowing his pseudo-father was listening. Tony was always listening. Whenever Peter needed something, there was Tony, ears open and ready to assist. He was always there. Always.

”Mister Stark,” Peter starts, unable to think of the right words. He’s too awkward for serious conversations like this- he doesn’t know what to say or what to think. He supposed that no one knows what to think when they know they’re about to die. Peter doesn’t feel sad, he knows that. It’s more numb than anything sad. He’s angry for sure. Angry and scared- oh, so scared. He said it once and he’ll say it again: he didn’t want to go. “I-I... Mister Stark I’m scared. I’m really, really scared. I don’t know wh-what’s gonna happen but-but, oh god, Tony I’m scared.”

That’s when Tony figures it all out.

Tony had never had a real kid until Morgan. He had Harley first, and then Peter, but up until his little girl was born, he had no one to call his kid. His real child. Tony had never thought of Peter as his son, more like a protégé he mentored. But when he looks at the boy now, cowering, expressing his fear of what’s to come, Tony realizes that it isn’t what he calls the boy that decides what he is, it’s the experiences they’ve had. The feelings they’ve felt. Peter was Tony’s son, biological or not. All he wants to do, looking down at Peter’s forlorn expression, is hold him. 

He can’t. Not until after. 

Tony had been described as a person who always got what he wanted, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. He wanted Peter to come out alive and safe.

That wasn’t what was going to happen and he knew it.

Screw the universe.

”It’s going to be okay, Peter. You just need to bring me the gauntlet and I’ll take care of everything. Can you do that for me, kid?”

Peter starts sobbing, eyes burning with the mixture of tears and soot that had accumulated there. He’s hunched over, the gauntlet still in his hands. It’s nearly as large as his whole torso, and that’s when both Peter and Tony realize that he’s only a kid. A kid that small, superhuman or not, could not survive the gauntlet’s power.   
  


Peter, the boy who could carry three cars stacked upon each other, maybe even more, didn’t feel very strong. Ironic, isn’t it?

“No, no! I-It has to be me, T-T-Tony. If it isn’t some-something bad’ll happen and we’ll l-lose. You know it! And-And, I can’t let you leave behind everything yo-you’ve built. You’re f-family. You have some-something to live for, Mister Stark and I-“

”Don’t say it!”

”-I don’t.”

”How could you say something like that, Peter? You have your whole life in front of you!”

”Everyone I-I love dies, Mister Stark. S-Soon it’ll be May and then what? I-I’ll be alone. I-I’d rather you be with your family then dead. You have so, so m-m-much to li-live for. Admit it, I don’t.

”Don't do this, Peter-“

”I-I have to. You kn-know that.”

Tony does. It doesn’t make saying goodbye any easier.

Stephen thinks it’s time to intervene by the look that flashes on Peter’s face. He’s deciding who to listen to- his mind, or Tony. But Strange can see, he can see what will happen if Peter gives into his fear and gives the gauntlet to Tony. It isn’t pretty.

And the worse part is, either way, Peter dies.

The wound on Peter’s head will kill him if he doesn’t snap his goddamned fingers. If he were to die, he might as well take Thanos down with him.

”Tony,” The sorcerer warns, a rather pitiful expression on his long features. Tony understands, but he can’t lose anyone else. He can’t. “I've told you once before, Stark,” Strange’s voice is filled with sympathy, a contrast to how brash and confident the doctor had been before. Tony knows this is serious, but the pain in his chest is too much to handle. “This is the only way. Either way he dies. Leave it.”

Tony gulps, sweat dribbling down his forehead, tears gathering in his eyes and- oh god! He can’t do this again!

The man lets out a frustrated growl, earning the attention of the Mad Titan himself. Thanos turns towards the three heroes, a sick smile forming on his face. Wanda can’t attack- she’s to occupied keeping the youngest boy safe, and Thanos is free to do what he pleases. 

Tony looks at Strange, who looks as serious as he does during a surgery.

The doctor nods at Peter just as Thanos begins his speech.

”Well, what do we have here?” The psychopath begins with a grim smirk. He strolls over to the small group, eyes gazing over each one and finally settling on Peter. His grin grows in size. “Putting the fate of the entire universe in the hands of a child! Stark, I expected better from you. And here I thought you were a genius.” 

Tony growled, low and threatening as Thanos took a few more cautious steps towards Peter, who was still surrounded by Wanda’s force field. “Peter has more power in his pinky then you have in your whole body! You purple ballsack!”

Thanos chuckled, low and full of mock-affection.

”So it seems. What gave that away? His quivering legs or the tears rolling off his cheeks?”

Tony stayed quiet, even as Strange let him hit the ground. He didn’t move. The realization that he was going to lose his kid was terrifying, but he’d do anything to see that horrid creature dead. Everything except lose Peter, but that was out of the question.

Tony heard Peter’s whimpers from over his comms, a pitiful sound that caused those many tears to freely flow from the older man’s eyes.

”Peter, you need to listen to me kiddo,” Peter looked towards Tony, indicating he’d heard what the man had said and was listening. The billionaire smiled, his face-plate coming back down so Peter could see his face one last time. “You see that over-sized space grape right there?” Peter nodded, frantically, staring up at Thanos’ incredibly large body as he stalked towards the boy. “You want him gone, alright? We want him dead. All you have to do is put those stones- the ones in the gauntlet- on your hand and the suit will do the rest, okay? Do that and then I’ll tell you what to do.”

”O-Okay, Mister Stark.”

Tony closed his eyes when Peter ripped the stones from the glove and went to place them on his own hands.

In hindsight, he really should have put his hands over his ears. Peter’s screams were like nothing he’d ever heard before. There was no doubt he’d be hearing them again in his dreams from here on out. The poor boy’s voice was raw- bloody and tender to the point where Tony could practically hear the boy’s esophagus tearing at the seams. The fighting stopped, everyone, alien and hero alike, turning towards the light that came from the pure power that Peter held in his hands. 

Cracking his eyes open, Tony gleamed at his boy, surrounded by light and energy and... and in so much pain. Oh god, this poor kid.

Peter didn’t look sure of himself, he didn’t puff his chest out and say some sparky one liner. He hunched over himself, in unbearable pain and sobbing like a baby. The kid looked around, seeing Wanda’s force field had been broken and everyone- literally, everyone- was staring at him, waiting. Tony knew how much Peter hated being in the spotlight. Tony knew how much the kid wanted to live.   
  


But they didn’t always get what they wanted.

That was evident enough.

Tony whispered through his comms once again, voice cracking as he tried to hold back tears. “Now, Peter. Hun, I-I need you to listen extra close to this, okay? You can do it, you’re smart, right?”

”I-It hurts!”

”I know, I know. It’ll all be over soon, just-just think, alright. Think of all the bad guys just going away. Thanos- poof! All these aliens, buh bye! I believe in you, buddy.”

”I don’t want t-to die, T-Tony.”

Tony allowed himself to cry. “I know, Petey. You won’t.” He feels like a dick for lying to the traumatized kid. “Just one little snap of your fingers and all the pain will be gone. I promise.”

”Promise?” 

“That’s what I said, kiddo. It’s time to go home.”

Peter didn’t answer, he simply looked at the titan with pure hatred, a look Tony had never seen on the kid’s face. His eyes went dark, and though he didn’t look totally convinced he could do it, Peter stood his ground. Still crying, he stood up to the biggest bully of them all. 

Strange was crying too, Tony saw, even if he didn’t know the kid well. A dying kid was a dying kid, after all. Anyone would be sad. 

“I-I’m scared, Tony.”

”I’m in the same boat here, bud. B-But I think you can do it. We all do. It’s all up to you now, Peter.”

Theres a long pause, just Thanos admiring the boy from a few feet away. There is no movement from anyone, the fighting completely at a stand-still. Tony’s surprised that titan hadn’t gone all bat-shit crazy on the boy, but he’s happy he hadn’t. Peter looked conflicted, but it all came down to one thing. There really was no other way. 

Peter had never been bold or confident in himself, and Thanos definitely didn’t help.

”Pathetic. He can’t even lift his fingers for a simple snap. You sure he’s your boy, Stark? He hasn’t got the guts to do anything to me. He’s weak. A mere child. A useless child at that. You should be disappointed, Stark, that your boy can’t kill like you can. Are you disappointed, Stark?”

”Never. I could never be disappointed in him. He’s _my_ kid and I could _never_ be disappointed.”

Peter smiled softly as Thanos turned his back to the small boy. Tony grinned back as he saw his boy lift his arm. The billionaire cried then, smile faltering, sobbed in front of Thanos himself and wasn’t humiliated. Not one bit.

”You should be. He can’t... even... snap his... fingers.”

Silence.

”Are you sure about that, big guy?”

All Thanos could see in front of him was his army slowly fading out of existence, just as his future self had done five years ago to innocent people. Tony saw the titan’s face fall, his lips turning into a deep frown as he realized that he had lost. And then, as he watched his army fade away, he realized that he could no longer feel his hand. He gazed down, only to see his own body turning into nothing but dust.

”No... no!”

Thanos slipped from existence quicker than he had entered it. And then, silence. 

Peter lay in a crater, surrounded by rocks and dust, just like how he started this journey. His back against a fallen piece of concrete, his eyes bare of any emotion, his body numb. The tension was so thick, so tangible, you could cut it with a knife. Strange muttered something under his breath that remotely sounded like an ‘I’m sorry’ to Tony’s ears, but the man wasn’t really listening enough to figure it out.

Vaguely, he heard Pepper land beside him, her face-plate falling to reveal her grief stricken expression. She gazed at her husband, worry evident in her eyes. 

Tony didn’t think about her, as much as he loved her. No, his eyes were trained on one person in particular, the only person that mattered right now. Peter. His Peter. The kid was staring back at him, a grim smile gracing his lips. Tony stepped forward, hesitating, as if he would hurt the boy more if he got any closer. The boy’s arm was completely gone- wiped clean off his body in a gnarled, gory mess. His whole side was burnt to a crisp, so much so it was hard to make out who he was. The older man approached him, falling to his knees after evacuating his suit. He laid in the dirt and mud in front of his child and wept. 

“C-Can I please- can I-I please touch yo-you?”

”Please.” Peter barely even whispered, Tony’s hand coming to rest on the good side of his face. The boy leaned into the touch, seeking the warmth and comfort of the man’s calloused and scarred hand. 

Tony didn’t know what else to say as the others gathered around slightly to watch the scene. 

The older man’s other hand hovered, unable to find a suitable resting place. 

“Peter, I-I...”

”I-I can’t... I can’t fe’ any’ting. ‘uo can touch me.” Tony didn’t fully believe the boy, but he stilled laid his other hand to rest of the boy’s other cheek, feeling the skin burned and marred to oblivion. The man smiled, his head tilting slightly as he stared softly at the boy. The kid was fading. He needed to say something, and fast.

”You know ho-how much I l-love you, right? You kn-know how p-p-proud I am of you?” Tony questioned, his thumbs rubbing the dust filled tears from Peter’s blood soaked cheeks. 

“Y-Yes.”

”Good. Th-that’s all you need to know, al-alright? That I-I love you more than any-anything. I created time travel for yo-you. Ev-even if it’s just to have a proper goodbye.”

Peter looked on with hooded eyes, not fully comprehending the situation. His head hurt, though the rest of his body was numb. He didn’t know anything other than the fact that Tony’s hands felt good against his skin. He wanted to say that he loved Tony back, but every time he tried, he only coughed up blood. Dying was harder than he thought.

”I-I... I-I-I lo-love ‘uo, T’ny.”

Tony sobbed, his forehead coming to rest against Peter’s burnt one. He opened his eyes, gazing into the boy’s empty ones. 

“I love you. You’re my s-son, Peter. You always were.”

Peter didn’t reply, he merely smiled as he felt his mind slowly slipping away. Tony wanted to call for medical, but he knew it would take to long. There were only seconds before Peter was gone and Tony wanted to make the most of it.

”Did we win?”

Tony chuckled, gripping Peter’s hand- his only hand- tight. 

“Yeah, bud. We won. All because of you. You saved the universe, kiddie. I’ll make sure May knows, and Ted and Mj, too.”

”I’s Ned, dad.”

The name sounded do right, it felt so right on his tongue and in Tony’s ears. The man didn’t even think twice when the boy was saying it. He just laughed, letting his own tears mix with Peter’s in the boy’s lap. 

“Sorry, kid. I keep forgetting.”

”I’m... I-I don’... wanna d-die, T-T-Tony.”

”Don’t talk, sweetheart.” Tony muttered as blood began to dribble from Peter’s mouth. Words sounding further apart, Tony knew it was nearly time to say goodbye. Forever. There was no going back this time. Peter was dead, and he wasn’t coming back. “You’ll only make it worse.” Peter closes his mouth, gulping down his anxiety only to cough up more blood. “Shh, shh. Good boy, Peter. Just breathe, you can do it. You’ll be okay, I’ll help you.”

Peter ignored him.

”’ove... ‘uo.”

”I know you do, hun. You can rest now, go on, close your eyes.” Peter did so, his breathing coming to a halt. “Good boy, Petey-Pie. I love you too. Sleep tight.”

That’s when Tony’s world went dark. His sun went down, the stars flickered to darkness and his moon fell. The fire was extinguished and Peter’s heart slowly faded into nothing. The silence remained, even as Tony clutched the boy’s corpse to his chest and screamed and sobbed into the boy’s neck. All of Peter’s body was in Tony’s lap, the man’s face stuffed into Peter warm- no, cold- neck, unable to look up from the skin. 

No one dared approach to two, scared of ruining the moment. 

Tony was officially broken. The one thing that gave him hope in the world, a reason to live, was gone. With that in mind, Tony let out a terrifying scream. 

The man heard footsteps approaching, light as a feather, gentle, elegant. Pepper. She crouched down by the two, hands coming to pull Peter’s battered body away from Tony’s. The man didn’t throw a fit, merely continued to hold on as she took her fingers and closed the boy’s eyes, which had opened just to mock them with their pure lifelessness. She laid a gentle kiss on the boy’s cheek, a few of her own tears falling onto the child. 

“I-I lov-loved him.”

Pepper nods, her own voice getting caught in her throat. 

“He knows, Tony.”

”He-He does-doesn’t know how mu-much! He-He’ll never kn-kn-know. Never. I-I can’t te-tell him anymore.”

”Trust me, honey. He knows.”

Pepper saw the outline of a rather large figure approaching the two. Steve Rodgers, looking just as bruised and beaten as the others. His eyes were glassy, though no tears fell. He took a few tentative steps towards the small family, afraid he might do or say the wrong thing. 

Steve cleared his throat, though it didn’t get Tony out of the boy’s neck. 

“He knows, Tony. You could see it in his eyes. He knows.” Tony didn’t look up at Steve’s words, just continued to cry until his head began to feel as if his brain would pop right out. He was running out of tears, he knew he was, but that didn’t stop him from screaming, scratching at the boy’s chest with bloody, dirty fingernails. Peter’s body lay still, never to move again, letting Tony do whatever he wanted. “Trust us.”

”He doesn’t know, he’ll never know.” Tony whispered to himself, eyes painfully scratched as more angry tears rolled down his cheeks, some falling into his open mouth as he grimaced. “I was such-such a jerk to him! I-I wouldn’t... I n-never told him e-enough. He could never know.”

The second and last battle against the Mad Titan was a hard one. It was long, drawn out and far to dangerous for a child like Peter. The boy had killed things- creatures, the aliens- despite the fact that he couldn’t kill. He just couldn’t, it wasn’t in his blood. Peter had become a hero, and that’s all he ever wanted- to help people. Tony couldn’t have been more proud of Peter, it just wasn’t possible. Not every father could say their kid saved the universe with a single snap of his fingers. Peter was selfless, allowing Tony to go home to his small family.

The kid wouldn’t know this, but Tony’s family would never be compete without him. 

Tony didn’t let go of Peter’s body until everyone else was gone. 

He was alone on the battle field, Pepper waiting a few yards away, letting the man take his time with his dead child. 

Tony let go when a fly landed on Peter’s cheek.

* * *

“He... He what?”

”He saved the universe, May. He sn-snapped his fingers and he saved us.”

May smiled something fierce, proud tears pouring from her eyes as her face scrunched in pure glee. She always knew he nephew would do great things, and saving the universe was just the tip of the ice burg. The aunt laughed lightly, her hand coming to grip Tony’s upper arm.

Tony knew what she was about to say, but he didn’t stop her from saying it.

”Oh, where is he? I wanna give him the biggest hug! My boy, savoir of the universe! If Ben could see him now!”

Tony didn’t know what to say, how to react to that. How was he supposed to tell this poor woman that the only person she had left was dead? That wasn’t fair! He vaguely thought that he’d invite her to live with his own family so she wouldn’t be alone forever. Tony thinks that’s a great idea. 

“May, do you... know how much power was in that gauntlet?”

”Of course not! I didn’t even know this ‘gauntlet’ existed.”

”It has enough power to kill someone, May.”

May’s lighthearted time and smile disappeared in an instance, confusion and sadness marking its place. She frowned, not wanting to hear what she though she was about to hear. No, she couldn’t take this. Not after her sister, but after her husband. She’s rather die.

”Stark, don’t- don’t tell me...”

”Peter’s enhanced, May. But it just- it wasn’t enough to s-save him. I’m sorry.”

May let out a gasp, her knees suddenly feeling weak as he stumbled back, her hands coming to grip her couch. She felt as if she’d topple over any minute. No, she thought. No, no, no, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. Peter couldn’t be- he could’ve be dead! 

May’s next door neighbor called the police when they heard screams from her apartment.

Little did they know, it wasn’t a robber or a murderer invading her home.

It was a grief stricken mother.

* * *

Morgan had heard enough about Peter Parker to know she wanted nothing more than to meet him. Her daddy talked about him, talked about what an amazing person he is, how funny and helpful he was. What an amazing brother he was. Now, Morgan didn’t know where Peter went, but her daddy promise that or day they would meet.

She didn’t know it would be at his funeral. 

She hadn’t even given him one of her famous Morgan hugs. And she couldn’t now, he was nothing but ash. 

When her daddy walked into their house, the day before the funeral, she had run up to him with the biggest grin on her face. He was back! Finally! Morgan has missed him, not that she didn’t enjoy spending time with Happy. But when she raced down the stairs and attacked herself to her father’s leg like a kola did a tree, and he didn’t react, she knew something wasn’t right. 

“Daddy?” She questioned, though all he did was look down at her with the most miserable expression she’d ever seen. He was crying, and her daddy never cried!

Morgan’s mother, Pepper, picked her up and away from her daddy. The girl made grabby-hands towards the man, but her mother shushed her and hugged her towards her chest. Morgan watched as he father went upstairs into his own room and never came back out for dinner. 

She was worried, but her mommy didn’t say anything about it, so she assumed it was nothing to serious. 

The next day, when her mother was picking her out a dress colored all black, Morgan knew something bad had happened. He got all dressed up, her mother staying that someone dear to her daddy had died and they were holding a funeral at the cabin for him. Morgan frowned, but didn’t cry since she still had no idea who had passed.

She stood now, holding her mother’s hand while her daddy clutched a vase on the dock. 

He was whispering something Morgan couldn’t hear, but when he was done, a woman walked up to him. She was small and skinny with long brown hair and dainty glasses. She looked a wreck, crying and sniffling every moment. The woman and her father sat a the edge of the pier, both of their hands on the vase as they lowered it down into the water, onto a little raft that was covered in flowers and candy. 

Mm, candy. 

Morgan wanted candy. She figured she ask her mommy for some after, but when she looked up to gaze at Pepper, all she saw was her mother crying. 

The young girl tugged at her mother’s hand, the woman finally crouching down so she was the same height as the girl. Morgan cupped her small hand around Pepper’s ear and began whispering.

”Who’s that, mommy?”

Pepper looked to where her daughter was pointing and frowned.

”That’s May, his aunt.”

Morgan made a face, sniffling slightly. “Daddy’s aunt?”

”No, baby. Peter’s.”

That’s when everything fell into place and Morgan allowed herself to feel sad. She didn’t fully understand what was happening or why her daddy would lie about her meeting Peter one day. All she knew was that her big brother was gone and her daddy was devastated. 

Her mommy’s hand came to rest on the girls head, pushing it into the older woman’s hip in a form of comfort. 

Morgan always wanted to meet the infamous ‘Peter Parker’. She never did.

But at least she knew her brother was the best big brother to ever exist. 

That was a fact.

* * *

Happy would miss picking the kid up from school. He loved Peter, he did. Now that he was gone, Happy didn’t know what to do with himself at two o’clock every day.

He’d miss the long rides up to the compound full of Peter talking about his many adventures of the day. What the kid was excited about, what Flash has teased him about, everything. Nothing beat helping the kid through his struggles, when Peter entered the car silently and refused to talk- Happy loved helping him. 

Peter would never run to his car after school ever again. 

Happy, ironically, was definitely not happy.

* * *

Tony doesn’t sleep at night. 

He doesn’t think he will ever be able to again. Even as Pepper’s hand comes to play with his hair to soothe him, he can’t muffle his strangled cries as he thinks of holding Peter again. His hands down to wrap around a pillow laying horizontal to his body. He grips it, like Peter had done the gauntlet, and imagined it’s the boy’s body. He holds it.

Tony doesn’t get out of bed. 

He can’t. He doesn’t want to eat knowing Peter will never be able to because he was dead. He couldn’t shower because getting out of bed was hard enough.

Tony couldn’t look at Morgan.

Looking into her beautiful brown eyes was like staring straight into Peter’s. She was to much like him. Too innocent, too kind and far too good for this world. Hearing her talk was like listening to Peter's last ‘I love you’ as gargled as it was. He couldn’t live knowing the kid that he lost was still right in front of him, despite being so different.

Tony couldn’t live. He wanted to, for Peter. But he couldn’t.

Not when his pride and joy was gone. 

**Author's Note:**

> I like this but that’s just me lol I hope you guys enjoyed it though!
> 
> If you enjoyed, please feel free to comment, leave kudos and save for later! Lots of love- lmc <3


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